Game Thread: (16/12) Lady Vols 74 - (12/21) Texas 70

#26
#26
mlindsay said:
Does it matter the score or will you come back with some other excuse when we win?
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Ease up Mikey, if they pull this out I'll give Kellie full credit for a quality win. Unlike if they lose, or even get run out of the gym (which they will if they play like the last game), despite a full week of preparation when it will obviously be due to injuries and/or refs...
 
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#27
#27
37620VOL said:
Our full strength, sharp shooting Volunteer men's basketball team just shot 33% from the field and 17% from three point range today.

Point is, it happens, especially early in the season before shooters find their range and play themselves into game shape. Let's hold off another week before we just throw in the towel on shooting threes.
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They did just play a national championship condender and No. 5 in the country Villanova, who is a great team and coached by a great coach in Jay Wright.
 
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#28
#28
madtownvol said:
Hmmm, games in November are really never pivotal. If they win this game and tank in the SEC, no one says, oh, it's all good because they beat Texas in November!" Conversely, if they lose this game and make a nice tournament, the Texas game is forgotten.

The injury to Rae actually takes some pressure of the team. A win would be ideal but a close game, where the LVs play good defense and look competitive (against a team that just knocked off #1) would do just fine.

Kellie's and the team's progression is going to be evaluated over the course of the season not any one game. I do think there is some pressure for the LVs to at least get back to the Sweet 16 this season.
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I agree with all of what you said but I stand by this game being important from a recruiting standpoint.
 
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#29
#29
madtownvol said:
Hmmm, games in November are really never pivotal. If they win this game and tank in the SEC, no one says, oh, it's all good because they beat Texas in November!" Conversely, if they lose this game and make a nice tournament, the Texas game is forgotten.

The injury to Rae actually takes some pressure of the team. A win would be ideal but a close game, where the LVs play good defense and look competitive (against a team that just knocked off #1) would do just fine.
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With Rae, I'd say this is the kind of game they really need to start winning. Maybe pivotal is too much too early, but with full team, this game is in the category we need to start winning.

Without Rae, I agree, it gets knocked down a notch to a gamt would be really nice to have, but not really expected, especially this early.

No mystery, we need Jordan to continue to be effective, espec scoring, need Dye to have a better game, and need Key to stay on the floor. And someone, anyone, to hit a 3. I worry that Vic has a masterplan to take Key out early. Would love to see her respond positively instead of playing into his hands. She has to know its coming.
 
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#30
#30
glv98 said:
With Rae, I'd say this is the kind of game they really need to start winning. Maybe pivotal is too much too early, but with full team, this game is in the category we need to start winning.

Without Rae, I agree, it gets knocked down a notch to a gamt would be really nice to have, but not really expected, especially this early.

No mystery, we need Jordan to continue to be effective, espec scoring, need Dye to have a better game, and need Key to stay on the floor. And someone, anyone, to hit a 3. I worry that Vic has a masterplan to take Key out early. Would love to see her respond positively instead of playing into his hands. She has to know its coming.
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I agree. It's going to be up to Key and Horston. Imo, we'll need between 35-40 combined points from them.
 
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#34
#34
Idc. I believe until the game is over. Period. Without Rae they have the skillset. It’s just taking those steps forward they all know are needed now rather than later.

Everyone’s development and mindset regarding their roles has to take a step forward quickly.. can/will they do it consistently each game is the question.

Let’s go ladies!
 
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#35
#35
We have 2 Lady Vol teams playing Big games today, naturally at the same time. Our soccer team plays Michigan at Michigan, in the third round of their NCAA Tournament, and our basketball team plays Texas at home.

Texas may have caught Stanford a little off guard when they played them, but we’ll be ready. Our last 2 games against teams with great defense helped us prepare for this game.

I believe both our teams can be victorious, and I’m excited!

GO LADY VOLS!!!
 
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#37
#37
Can't afford to get way behind today. Just keep the focus on offensive efficiency and get after them on defense. We have to relearn some roles with Rae out. Hopefully these past few days will give Kellie the opportunities she didn't have to mitigate the loss of Rae.
 
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#40
#40
Kellie on the free throws:

“Every time I had a team that struggled from the free-throw line, as a coach, do you want to talk about it or do you not want to talk about it, do you want it to just happen, or do you want to put in their heads?” Harper said. “We talked about it as a team, we had some pressure free throws in our practice on Wednesday and went 22 for 24.
 
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#43
#43
“I think the matchup with Rori (Harmon) should be fun. Rori is dynamic, and she can put the ball in the hole. I think throwing different defenders on her, we can put Jordan Horston on her and give her a 6-2 body. Then we can put Brooklynn on her (at 5-4), who is going to be a little bit feistier on the ball. I think that just having different folks guarding her, I think, will be good. Brooklynn would probably be one of them.” - Kellie Harper
 
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#45
#45
Flattering really we don’t make our players talk about how great the other opponents are on media day 😂
 
#46
#46
One thing is certain, I believe we will see an extremely aggressive defensive battle today. The players that can make some shots in the face of smothering D will tilt this game, hopefully Horst has that kind of game today. Somebody else needs to also.

a few questions that will matter:

it looks like Miles will play a large role as a defensive specialist in this game…can she manufacture some offense also while on the floor? And will Puckett get the ball on the wings with time to take her shot? If Texas doubles on Key in the post who will be left unguarded and will they make Texas pay? Finally, which coach will employ full court pressure first and will it be employed only when falling behind in the game or will it be used to create offense early in the match?

This would be a good time for coach Harper to really utilize full court pressure to create offense imo. I think the UT bench is deep enough to do this. Maybe Striplin shows up This game to add to that depth.

it’s unfortunate, but true that UT’s first slate of opponents without RB are all defensive minded teams, but that is what it is.
 
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#49
#49
One way to look at the loss of RB is to think of her minutes played if healthy. She would be a 30 min +/- player most games, and would average around 16-18 points, 5-7 boards, 2-3 assists and maybe a steal over 30 minutes.

So who is likely filling in those 30 minutes in her absence and what kind of 30 min production has that group averaged? The rebounds are probably close, and the assists not far off tbh. But without doing the math/checking, I suspect the replacement group is light about 10 points per game and that’s not even considering how RB impacts the flow of a game because she is the best player on the UT team. A player like her will go on offensive runs, and also will break scoring droughts as well as force the opposing team to adjust matchups.

I think the totality of her absence is far greater than 10 points per game obviously. Hope she is back soon for UT fans, it’s a huge difference in team performance tbh when you lose your star player for any length of time, not just the obvious stats lost.

Silver lining, there usually is one, is that those 30 minutes being played by others is providing immense experience to some players which would have been delayed in her presence. The team will be better for it when she returns.
 
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#50
#50
LadyVols_WBK said:
Kellie on the free throws:

“Every time I had a team that struggled from the free-throw line, as a coach, do you want to talk about it or do you not want to talk about it, do you want it to just happen, or do you want to put in their heads?” Harper said. “We talked about it as a team, we had some pressure free throws in our practice on Wednesday and went 22 for 24.
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What are pressure free throws in practice...?
 
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